


Toothache

by olgushka



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Fear of Dentists, Fluff, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 11:54:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11463054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olgushka/pseuds/olgushka
Summary: There's no way Tyler is gonna see a dentist.





	Toothache

It starts with peanuts. Because Tyler loves peanuts. 

So he's sitting on the hotel room bed with his back pressed against the headboard (somewhere in the middle of Europe, watching a TV show in a language he doesn't understand), enjoying his salted peanuts.

He's almost done with the whole bag when suddenly he feels like he's been shot in the face. He shouts - actually _shouts_ \- from pain and puts the bag aside, doubling over and leaning forward so much that he has no other option than to change his position and kneel on the bed, with his forehead pressed against the mattress. He wails, trying to muffle the sound against the sheets.

When the first shock passes, he sits up and spits the contents of his mouth onto his hand just to find a tiny square silver filling among the pieces of peanuts.

„Oh no.” He tries to feel the tooth with his tongue but he ends up pushing a piece of a peanut inside the hole and the touch makes him cry out even louder.

He runs to the bathroom and quickly rinses his mouth with warm water. He tries to inspect the damage in the mirror.

He remembers the tooth. He remembers the same exact tooth that made him hate dentists with a passion. He knows his nerve is exposed, he remembers his dentist's words: _it's a pretty big filling and you may need a root canal on it at some point but let's try a filling first_. The filling worked and stayed in place for many years. Until tonight.

He takes a deep breath but the cold wave of air causes pain and he moans, clasping his hand over his mouth and squeezing his eyes shut. 

He knows he needs to see a dentist. He also knows that there's no way he's gonna see any dentists. He decides to wait it out.

 

In the morning, he joins the crew for breakfast in the restaurant downstairs. Forgetting about the last night's incident, he orders his favorite meal and once the plate is placed in front of him, Tyler _goes for it_.

He takes the first bite of his eggs and freezes. His eyes start to water, so he puts his fork down. Everyone is too busy with their own food and loud conversations to notice the grimance on his face. He reaches for his water, takes a sip and discreetly rinses his mouth. He waits until the pain goes away and he starts to eat again, taking small pieces of eggs and bacon into his mouth and chewing with the opposite side (or not chewing at all).

 

Later that day, he discovers that he can't even drink his Red Bull without moaning in agony. 

 

Josh almost stares a hole in the back of his head when the singer shoves two painkillers into his mouth before the show. The pain is stronger than his fear of swallowing pills.

„Are you okay?” The drummer asks.

„Yes, why?”

„You just took painkillers.”

„My head hurts a little bit. Nothing to worry about.” Tyler grabs his black paint and locks himself in the bathroom.

There's no way he's gonna see a dentist.

 

Singing turns to be another problem. His tooth hurts and every deeper breath causes a dull ache that spreads around his whole jaw line.

 

For the next few days, he discreetly rinses his mouth with sage tea that he buys in a random supermarket.

There's no way he's gonna see a dentist.

 

„We have a few things for you guys to try.”

Tyler gulps at the sight of a huge bar of chocolate. They're in Switzerland for God's sake, of course they had to give them Swiss chocolate to try.

Josh grabs the bar with a wide smile.

„Oh, I love chocolate!” He shouts like an excited five year-old child, breaks off a large piece and shoves it into his mouth. „This is so good!” The drummer says and takes another bite. He turns to Tyler and offers him the bar. „You're not gonna try it?”

„Uhm, I'm sure it's delicious but I will pass.” The singer says, scratching the back of his neck. „I have a show tonight and I don't want to make myself sick.”

Josh looks at him with a frown like he knows that Tyler is not saying the truth but the camera is still rolling so he doesn't comment on his best friend's lie. Instead, he mumbles: _fair enough_ , and puts the chocolate back on the table. 

 

„Are you sure you're okay?” 

„Yes.”

„It's the fourth time I'm seeing you taking painkillers before a show.”

„I'm fine, Josh.”

„If anything-”

„Yes, if anything was wrong, I would tell you.”

 

Tyler knows that Josh watches him more carefully than usually. He tries not to let it show that something is wrong. He still uses sage tea everyday and takes painkillers (he takes them in the bathroom now, where no one can see him).

 

On their day off, he avoids hanging out with the crew and tries to fall asleep to forget about the pain. But eventually the curtain to his bunk opens and Josh almost sticks his whole head inside.

„Hey, I've heard that there's Chipotle two streets away from here. Wanna walk with me?”

„Yeah, sure.” Tyler agrees without any enthusiasm and rolls off his bed.

They walk shoulder to shoulder, talking. Well, Josh talks. Tyler doesn’t have too much strength to open his mouth to say one simple sentence. When they get close to Chipotle, Josh doesn't stop. He keeps walking and drags Tyler along with him by the sleeve of his black Adidas jacket.

„Wait. You said we're going to Chipotle. Chipotle is there.” Tyler uses his free hand to point to the building. „Where are we going?”

„To the clinic.” 

„The clinic?”

„Yes. You have an appointment with the dentist.”

The singer halts to stop in the middle of the sidewalk, making Josh stop as well.

„What?” Tyler gulps.

„ _What_?” Josh looks up from his phone where he checks for directions. „I'm not an idiot, Tyler. You barely eat, you chew weirdly and you're running on ridiculous amount of ibuprofen. I know your tooth is bothering you and we're going to fix that.” He continues walking, never releasing Tyler's sleeve from his grip. 

Tyler feels like he's about to die from a panic attack and heart palpitations at once, somewhere in the middle of a random German city, and that will be the end of Twenty One Pilots. 

„I don't- My- You- There's no need-”

„Are you scared or something?” Josh raises his eyebrow.

„No, of course not!”

„Good.”

 

Tyler sits in the plastic uncomfortable chair, nervously bouncing his leg and looking at the drummer. Josh talks to the woman behind the counter, fills some papers and nods when she wildly waves his hand, probably explaining something to him. 

Eventually, Josh comes back and sits next to him, reading the papers he got.

The hallway is full of people but there are only three in the line to the dentist’s office, waiting for their turn. Almost everyone eyes them up and down but their eyes always seem to travel in Josh’s direction. His hair is still a big deal, even if only a few locks are sticking out from underneath his baseball cap. The drummer keeps himself busy with scrolling through his social media and Tyler doesn't know what to do with himself. He thinks about his options.

Plan 1: Get up and run.

Plan 2: Excuse himself to the bathroom, slip out of the building when Josh doesn't look and lie about not remembering the way back.

Plan 3: Tell the truth.

 

Another patient leaves the dentist’s office and Tyler’s heart stops.

„I can't do it.” He whispers.

Josh looks up at him.

„Huh?”

„I can't do it, I can't do it.” Tyler starts to chant and brings his shaking hand up to rub over his face. „I can't do it.” His breathing quickens and he feels sweaty all over. 

Josh counts the people in the line (still two more), grabs Tyler's hand and leads him towards the main door, pushing him outside. He sits him down on the stairs and puts his hands on the singer’s shoulders, squeezing them gently.

„Breathe, Tyler. Breathe.”

„I can't do it, Josh. I'm sorry, I'm such a coward, I can't do it.”

„Do what?”

„Go there. Let her dig in my tooth.” The singer sniffs and hides his face behind his hands. „I'm scared. I'm terrified.”

For a moment, there's silence. But then Josh sits down next to him and bumps their shoulders together.

„Why didn't you tell me?”

„You all were mocking Mark when he was scared to go get his wisdom tooth removed, I didn't want to be mocked too.” Tyler whimpers.

„Tyler, we were _joking_.” Josh's face softens.

„Yeah, but I don't really take joking lightly, do I?”

„I know. Come here.” The drummer sighs and pulls him into a hug.

Tyler presses himself against the drummer’s side like he wants to make himself disappear.

„I haven't been to a dentist in, like, ten years. I'm scared of dentists, okay? Once I turned eighteen, my mom no longer had power to drag me to see them. So I stopped going.”

„I understand that you're scared but you really need to get this tooth checked. You're in pain, it affects your sleep, you skip meals and you take too many painkillers. It's unhealthy, Tyler. You know it is.”

„But it's only my filling.” Tyler tries. „It fell out. It's nothing serious, we can just-”

„Tyler.” Josh warns and Tyler pushes his face in the crook of the drummer's neck.

„Please, don't make me go there. Please.”

„Look.” Josh says. „The longer you neglect it, the chance of getting an infection is higher. Wouldn't it better to get it over with now than suffer until you can't take it anymore and end up in the hospital with some serious damage to your teeth and gums?” He asks and Tyler tenses. „You won't be able to sing. We will have to put the tour on hold. Do you want to disappoint the Clique?”

„N-no!”

„Exactly.” Josh puts his hand on top of Tyler's head and ruffles his hair. „Now, we will go back in there-” He starts but Tyler shakes his head. „No, Tyler, listen to me. We will go back in there, we will wait for your turn and you will get your tooth fixed. Then, we will go back to the bus and you won't have to see any dentists for another ten years, okay?”

„It will hurt.” Tyler mumbles.

„It won't. It will be a bit uncomfortable, yes. But you'll be free of any pain after that, okay?”

They sit in the silence for the next few minutes until Tyler shifts, pulls away and nods.

„Okay.” He says quietly. 

„That’s my boy. I will wait for you. I will be there for the whole time, right outside the door.”

 

When Tyler leaves the doctor's office half an hour later, shaken up and looking utterly miserable, Josh quickly pulls him into a hug, not caring about other patients' stares. 

„How was it?”

„Awful.” Tyler mumbles against his shoulder. „She wanted to start a root canal but I told her she can't because I travel a lot and don't have time for it so she replaced the filling but she said the tooth needs a root canal anyway.”

„Oh.”

„She cleaned the area because _I have_ the beginning of the infection and if you tell me _I told you so_ , I'll punch you in the face.”

„I wouldn't dare.” Josh smiles. „Let's get out of here.”

„My jaw hurts.” Tyler sniffs, still glued to Josh's side after they leave the clinic. „She was poking my gums with something sharp and it hurt like hell. You said it would not hurt. You lied.”

„Aww.” The drummer chuckles. „You big baby.”

„Don't. Mock. Me.”

„I'm not mocking you.”

„You are. I'm not talking to you.”

 

Back in the tour bus, Tyler lowers himself onto the couch in the lounge and turns on his side so his face is hidden between pillows and the backrest. He throws his arm over his head to block the outside world and closes his eyes.

He hears Josh rummaging around in the kitchen, opening the fridge and cabinets.

„What's wrong with him?” Mark asks, appearing in the lounge.

Tyler curls up into a ball.

„Toothache.” The drummer replies and Tyler feels the end of the couch dip under someone's weight. „Hey, Ty. Sit up.”

„No.”

„Come on, we will try to make your jaw hurt less.”

Tyler sighs but gives up and sits upright. He looks at the items in Josh's hand and raises his eyebrow.

He watches the drummer as he makes his idea come to life, wrapping a cloth around a small ice pack. He shuffles closer to the singer and presses the ice-pack to his jaw with one hand and reaches behind his back with the other. He picks up a folded polka dot handkerchief and quickly wraps it around Tyler jaw - making sure that the ice pack is staying in the right place, and ties a knot on the top of Tyler's head. 

Mark snorts at the sight but backs off after Tyler sends him a murderous glare. The singer catches his reflection in the mirror.

„I look ridiculous. Can I just take painkillers?”

„Hell no. You've already taken too many painkillers in the last couple of days. And the intention is to make you feel better, not to make you look like a Calvin Klein model.” Josh shrugs. 

„Whose handkerchief is that anyway?” Tyler asks. „I don't remember you owning a polka dot handkerchief.”

„It's probably Jenna's.”

„Oh. That makes sense.”

„Cuddles in my bunk?” Josh offers. 

Tyler looks at him suspiciously.

„And back rubs?”

„Yeah, I guess. Whatever you want.”

„And neck massage?” The singer makes big puppy eyes.

„Don't push it, Tyler Joseph, or I'll drag you back to the clinic.”

**Author's Note:**

> I guess I'm back in the one-shots game.
> 
> I want you all to know that my super-talented friend [EagleJD](https://ficbook.net/authors/888414) inspired me to write this fic (basically, she shoved a prompt in my face) and... she made a brilliant fanart for this story! You can find it [HERE](https://68.media.tumblr.com/9148625bfe6ea0c92f6ee43bbd3295bb/tumblr_osw0u7D5L41qj7r8ro1_540.jpg). Give her tons of love!


End file.
